Milking apparatus.



G. V. ROBERTS, JR. MILKiNG APPARATUS. APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 8, 1912.

'1 Q" 74,206. Patented Sept. 30, 1913.

GEORGE v. ROBERTS, JR, or PORT BYRON, NEW YORK.

MILKIN G APPARATUS.

Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented Sept. 30, 1 Q1 3.

Application filed March 8, 1912. Serial No. 682,431.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, GEORGE V. Ronnn'rs, Jr., of Port Byron, in the county of Cayuga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Milking Apparatus, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in milking machines in which the teat cups are flexibly connected directly to an elevated-pump through the medium of a hose of sufficient length to permit the cow to shift its position over a reasonably broad area of floor space without liability of detaching the cups or overstraining' any of the connections between said cu )s and pump.

The main object is to render t 1e entire apparatus more sanitary than has heretofore been practised by elevating practically all of the elements including the milk receptacle a sufficient distance" above the floor to avoid contamination of the milk and various parts of the apparatus bythe lower strata of foul or vitiated air.

Another object is to provide for a greater range of activity of the cow during the milking operation without liability of over- .turning the milk receptacle or over-straining any of the parts of the apparatus.

A further object is to provide the ele vated pump with a relatively short branch chamber to which the flexible tube is connected for constant communication between the pump and teat cups. and at the same time providing such branch chamber with an outlet in which is'located a self-closing valve adapted to be opened on the compression stroke of the piston of the pump to discharge the milk into an underlying receppression stroke of the piston before the valve opens so as to allow the teats to assume their normal condition after each exhaust stroke of such piston, thereby relieving the teats and udder from excessive irritation.

Other objects and uses relating to. specific parts of the apparatus will be brought out in the following description:

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a milking apparatus embodying the various features of my invention in op- .erative position for milking. Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional view of the pump, showing the valve in the outlet and the reciprocatory actuating means for the piston. Fig. 3 is a still further enlarged detail sectional view of a portion of the branch tube of the pump showing the valve therein. Fig. i is a transverse vertical sectional view through the connection between the piston head and its actuating member showing the cylinder in end eleva tion and also the supporting 'means for the milk receptacle. Fig. 5 is a top plan of the detached cap for the branch tube of the pump. i

In order that my invention maybe clearly understood I have shown a substantially horizontal frame 1 for receiving and supporting a plunger pump 2 and a reciprocatory rod or bar -3- which is actuated by a hand or power driven crank or eccentric 4 ,and pitman 5. the rod or bar -3- being conn'ected to the piston rod for reciprocating the piston in a manner hereinafter described.

The frame 1-- is preferably supported upon the stanchions, not shown, or other part of the stable a considerable distance above the floor but within easy reaching distance of the operator and for this purpose is provided with suitable supporting brackets --(5 having guides 7 in which the piston operating member -3 is slidable.

The pump 2-- preferably consists of a cylinder -8 and piston 9. having a piston rod -10'- provided with-a lateral offset --1l adapted to enter one or the other of a series of apertures 12 in the operating rod -3 whereby reciprocatory motion may be transmitted from said rod to the piston. The cylinder -8- is preferably supported in a horizontal position in suitable seats in the upper sides of the guides 7- as shown more clearly in Figs.'2 and 4t and is preferably of greater length than the stroke of the piston for a purpose hereinafter described, one end of. the cylinder being closed by a head or cap 13 having an aperture d boss 14 for receiving and supporting a pin -15- which latter isinsorted in a suitable aperture l6 in one of the bracketsaTti for holding the pump against endwise movement as its piston is reciprocated. The cows are usna 1y positioned side by side in the stanchions and in order that the same pump may be used for, milking the several cows in. sequence or selectively, it is made comparatively light and easily port-able arid adapted to'be sh1fted to di-ffei-ent positions in proximity to the cow' being milked from one to another of the cows according to their relative arrangement as each cow is successively milked and for this purpose the pin 15 is easily removable and adapted to be inserted in any one of the apertures -l6 of the several brackets, it being understood that each bracket has associated therewith. a pair of supports 7upon which the pump rests in addition to the supporting pin -15. The opposite end of the cyl nder is preferably open to obviate any possibility of forming an air cushion or partial vacuum in this end of the cylinder, thereby permitting the free operation of the piston.with a minimum degree of ower.

The lower side 0 the closed end of the cylinder is provided with a relatively small opening 17 communicating with a relatively short branch tube 18- which is 'secured to and depends from the lower side of the cylinder soas to embrace the opening 17 but is preferably of considerably greater diameter than said opening to constitute areservoir for the reception of a limited quantity of milk. This opening -17 is referably located at one side of the axis of the branch tube.-18 nearest the head l3 so as to allow the piston to move across the greater portion of the upper end of the tube, thereby permitting the full stroke of the piston without excessively elongating the cylinder. The lower end of the branch tube 18 is provided with a removable cap 19 having an outlet -'20- and a valve seat 2lagainst which is normally seated a self-closing valve 22- This valve is adapted to open outwardly or downwardly under the action of the compressed air and milk produced by the necessary'stroke of the piston 9 and is yieldingly held in its closed position by a spring 23 which surrounds an inwardly projecting stem 24 of the valve and has its lower end bearing against a suitable seat 25' and its upper end engaged with 'an adjustable shoulder.26- onthe upper end of the rod, whereby the tension of the spring may be adjusted at will'to vary the time of opening of the valve during the compression stroke of the piston.

The branch tube l8 is provided in, .one side with a laterally projecting tubular nipple 27 communicating with the interior of the tube l8- between the valve '22 and opening l7 and to this nipple is connected one end of a flexible tube 28 havin its opposite end connected to a series of, in this instance four, teat cups -29" as shown more clearly in -Fig. 1, thereby e'stablishingflconstant communica tion between the teat cups and head end of the cylinder.

The milk rece tacle which may consist of an ordinarymil pail -A is preferably supported a considerable distance above the the process of milking any one cow, it may be removed and replaced by an empty or partially filled pail without changing the osition of the pump or the filled pail may lie left in this position and the pump shifted and used to fill another pail on any one of the other brackets if desired. The pail is therefore elevated a considerable distance.

above the cow or plane of the teat cups dur-f' ing'the milking operation, thereby not only obviating any liability of contamination of the milk by thef'lower strata of the foul or vitiated air but also preventing any possibility of accidentally overturning the milk receptacle by either the cow or attendant.

The cylinder -2 is provided with. an air inlet valve 31 located between' the inward and outward limits of stroke of the piston 9 and preferably in proximity to the limit of the outward stroke of said piston so as to neutralize the partial vacuum in the head end ofthe cylinder boss before the piston. reaches the limit of its outward stroke, thereby relieving in a measure the action of the vacuum or suction upon the udder.

It is now evident thatas the piston is moved to the limit of its outward stroke,

atmospheric air is admitted to the interior of the cylinder in advance of the piston and is slightly compressed during the con1pres-' sion stroke of said piston in proportion to the sprin r --23, thereby additionally restoring t e teats to their normal relaxed thereof such as would e the case without such limitedcompression. This slight compression is afforded by the tension ofthe spring -23- during the compression stroke of the piston but is sufiiciently yielding to allow the valve to open for the discharge of the milk into the receptacle -A after the piston 9 has passed the valve -3l a short distance on its compression stroke,

conditlon and preventin excessive irritation and to remain open until said piston reaches the end of such stroke, whereupon it is immediately closed by the spring. For exthe suction continuing until the piston passes'the vent 3land serves to assist the spring 23 in keeping the valve 22 closed, whereupon as soon as the piston 9- passes the normally 0 en valve 31-, atmospheric air will be a mitted to the interior of the cylinder between the piston and head --13, thereby breaking the partial vacuum and relieving the draft upon the teats. During this exhaust stroke of the piston the teats are drawn downwardly more or less into the'cups and are therefore elongated tending to produce a certain amount otirritation and in practice it is found that unless some counteracting force is introduced into the cups to return the teats to their normal condition, they will remain in this elongated position by reason of their friction with-said cups until the next exhaust stroke which in turn assists to additionally elongate or stretch the teats and produces more or less irritation thereof. This injurious eft'ect, however, is overcome in my apparatus by admitting atmospheric air to the interior of the cylinder and therefore into the cups just before the piston reaches the limit of its exhaust stroke, thereby tending to relieve the suction so that when the piston begins to return upon its compression stroke as soon as it passes the valve 31 it tends to force air under a slight pressure into the cups sufficiently to relieve the suction on the teats and allow them to return to their normal condition, this partial compression of the air in the cups -29- being regulated by the tension of the spring 23 but as the compression increases by'the inward action of the piston 9, the valve 22 will thereby be opened to allow the exit of the milk from the reservoir,-18-' into the receptacle A.f This particular feature of my invention therefore causes the teats to elongate and retract gradually and gently in the natural manner of milking by hand and therefore obviates anyliability of irritation of the udder.

When the pump is operated by oWer other than hand power, such operation is 'usually continuous and in order that the pump may be shifted from one position to another according to the position of the cow previously described and that the piston rod may be attached to and detached from the constantly reciprocating r' member 3 without liability of carnage to any of the parts, i provide said reciprocating member with a ledge 32 and in clined bearing tern'iinating in a shoulder -34, the length of the bearings 32 and -33-- suthcient to enahle the operator to drop the ofi'setit on any portion thereof the assurance that the ofi'set will strike the abutment and in mediatelyenter the aperture soon as the latter is registered with said offset, it heing understood that without such provision it would r quire careful manipulation and watchfulne'ss to properly the chest 11 into the aperture l-2- while the driving member 3 is reciprocating.

' lVhat I claim is:

1. in a milking'apparatus, the combination of a pump having an outlet, actuating means therefor, teat cups, a flexible hose leading from the teat on )S to the pump, said pump being elevated some distance the cups-and means for supporting a i sill? receptacle in the path or" the outlet and in a plane above the cups.

In a milking apparatus, in combinatzon with teat cups, a pump supported 111 a plane some distance above that of the cups 1 when the latter are adjusted for use, a hoe having one end connected to the cups and its other-end connected directly to the pump,

said pump having a piston rod provided with a lateral otiset, a sliding bar movable lengthwise of the pump, means for recipror cating said bar, an inclined bearing on the bar terminating in an abutment and having an aperture :for the reception of the offset at the junctionof the abutment with the inclined bearing.

3. In amilking apparatus, a piston pump having a milk outlet and a valveless milk inlet, a sprin closed. valve for the outlet,

teat cups. and a flexible valveless connection.

between the teat. cups and milk inlet.

In witness whereof l have hereuntoset my hand on this 1st day of March 1912.

GEG. V, RGBERTS, JR. lVi tnesses ll. E. CHAsn, E. S. TUCKER. 

